I ordered 5 patches of Varner's Beer Belly Hair in Black, Chartreuse, Copper, Gray & Purple. The order shipped promptly and the hair is long and of good quality, although a little fine and not as dense as most other patches I have purchased. These patches appear to have been harvested higher up on the body, almost body hair rather than thick belly hair. The dye job is extremely consistent throughout and very well done.
My issue is the difference between the product description and the actual size of what was delivered. The description is a 3" x 4" patch. None of the patches received met or exceeded this measurement. All patches measured 4" or more from the butt of the patch to the hair tips, not the patch size. Only one patch measured 3" across the hide. The others ranged from 1 3/4" to 2 1/2". That's a lot of hair purchased that was not delivered.
I prefer to buy bucktail and deer belly hair in person so I can examine each patch and determine quality before plunking down cash. This transaction is a good example of why I have that practice. I have moved and there are no conveniently located fly shops in my area that carry this type of material so I am shopping for a good online supplier. These patches did not meet my expectations, especially for the price.
The pricing is high when comparing quality to other suppliers. I am looking for dense hair for saltwater flies. The quality of these patches are more consistent with smaller freshwater flies. This hair would be excellent for that application although the size issue still remains.
Ordered 4 patches. Nice hair, but these are the measurements: 2x3.5, 2.25x3.25, 2.5x2.5, 2.25x4. Again, really high quality hair and I understand there is variation when dealing with natural materials, but not even one patch is a 3x4 equivalent.
Great stuff
